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Managing Java browser plug-in settings for Apple’s XProtect malware protection
In response to a number of recent Java exploits, both Apple and Mozilla have begun blocking vulnerable versions of Java from running in their respective browsers via their malware protection...
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Opening Finder windows from the Terminal
While working on the command line in Terminal, I occasionally need to open up a new Finder window so that I can take a look at something in the Finder. When this happens, the open command provides a...
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Using Apple Remote Desktop Admin to help script ARD kickstart options
Apple Remote Desktop is a tool that just about every Mac admin uses at some point. The client is built into OS X and it’s usually straightforward to turn on. It also includes a command line tool called...
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Managing Adobe Flash browser plug-in settings for Apple’s XProtect malware...
As a follow-up to my earlier post about managing XProtect’s ability to block Java browser plug-ins , a Mac admin named scifiman sent me a launchdaemon and script to manage Adobe Flash using a similar...
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Checking for accounts with Remote Management rights
Something a number of Mac admins need to know about the Macs in their environment is being able to detect which accounts have remote management rights on a particular Mac. Crafty users can be inventive...
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Automatically enable the Java web plug-ins setting in Safari 6.0.3 and later
One of the features of Apple’s Safari 6.0.3 update is that it turns off the automatic execution of Java applets through Safari, even if the Java browser plug-in is otherwise enabled. Safari 6.0.3 does...
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Setting the default boot drive from the boot volume menu
This has been previously documented in a few places, but I just ran across this handy way to set the default boot drive from the boot volume menu. When you start up a Mac holding down the Option key,...
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Migrating OS X VMs to a VMware ESXi server
I’ve started using ESXi servers more and more for hosting my test Macs, both here and at work. As part of that, I’ve found it to be considerably easier for me to build the VM inside of VMware Fusion on...
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Running Java 7 in a VMware Fusion 10.8.x VM
As mentioned previously, I’ve moved the majority of my testing to OS X VMs running in either VMware Fusion or VMware ESXi. However, there has been one component of my build testing that I still needed...
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Migrating OS X VMs files without VMware Standalone Converter
In one of the comments to my earlier post about migrating OS X VMs to ESXi, Alan Gordon mentioned another way to convert an OS X VM’s vmdk file to an ESXi-compatible format. Since the process I...
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Managing Safari’s Java whitelist
Safari 6.0.4 and later (for Mac OS X 10.7.x and 10.8.x), and 5.1.9 and later (for Mac OS X 10.6.x) now prompts you to enable the Java browser plug-in on a website-by-website basis. When a Java applet...
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Booting into single-user mode on a FileVault 2-encrypted Mac
I recently communicated with a Mac admin who was concerned about using FileVault 2 in his environment because he didn’t want to lose access to tools like single-user mode. Like a number of Mac admins,...
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FileVault Setup.app – local FileVault 2 encryption setup and enforcement
I was recently asked to help test a new utility called FileVault Setup for setting up and enforcing FileVault 2 encryption. It’s designed to be a user-friendly interface for Apple’s fdesetup tool on OS...
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ASR’s hidden documentation
As part of trying to trace down a separate mystery, the folks in the ##osx-server IRC room made an interesting discovery: Apple’s asr tool has hidden documentation. Normally, to access Apple’s...
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Script to run remote commands via SSH
As a follow-on to my earlier post about running remote commands with SSH, I noticed I was repeatedly running particular commands via SSH on remote machines. I was copying and pasting the bits I needed...
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FileVault 2 session at Penn State MacAdmins Conference 2013
I’ll be speaking about FileVault 2 at the Penn State MacAdmins Conference 2013, which is being held from May 22nd – 24th, 2013 in State College. For those interested, my talk will be on Thursday, May...
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Changes to XProtect’s Java browser plug-in version management
In last night’s XProtect update, Apple added two new version checks. The first new check looks for Apple’s com.apple.java.JavaAppletPlugin Java browser plug-in identifier. This Apple Java browser...
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First Boot Package Install.pkg
As covered previously, Greg Neagle’s createOSXinstallPkg is a versatile tool for installing or upgrading Mac OS X in a variety of situations. One of the nicer features is that you can edit the OS X...
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Slides from the FileVault 2 Session at Penn State MacAdmins Conference 2013
For those who wanted a copy of my FileVault 2 session slides from Penn State’s MacAdmins Conference 2013, here are links to the slides in PDF and Keynote format. PDF document link:...
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Logging into a SMB file server multiple times with different usernames from...
An issue that I’ve run into at my workplace has been people requesting the ability to log into our SMB-using file servers with different usernames. In my specific case, I have a user who wanted to be...
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